Fitbit Flex 2 – All Day Activity Tracker

Tracking your fitness today using a wrist-based device that is often connected to your smartphone is more than just a trend; it’s a huge industry that looks like it isn’t going away anytime soon. Revenue from fitness tracker devices worldwide is expected to reach $2.57 billion by 2018, according to statista.com.

Owning roughly 20 percent of the fitness tracker market is Fitbit, which makes a line of activity tracker devices for athletes of every level and all types of physical activities. For people interested in using a fitness tracker for the first time, the Fitbit Flex 2 is a great option to consider.

Overview

The Fitbit Flex 2 is an ultra-slim activity tracker that can track your steps, the distance you travel, the calories burned and your active minutes. The LED display lights up to show the progress you’ve made toward these goals.

This lightweight device is removable and comes fitted into a band. What’s fun about the Fitbit Flex 2 is that the tracking device can be removed from the band and inserted into other bands, pendants and bangles, giving you a variety of ways to carry your tracker as well as change your fashion statement.

Fitbit understands people like to exercise in a variety of ways, so they have also made a Fitbit Flex 2 swimming feature. You can use it to track your swimming strokes, and the device is suitable for wear in the ocean, lake, pool and your shower or bathtub.

The Flex 2 connects wirelessly to the Fitness App, which allows you to view all of your activity data. The device’s SmartTrack feature automatically recognized selected workouts and records them to the app, which is convenient for those who just want to get up and go, and not fuss with their tracker first.

While you’re on the go, we found in this Fitbit Flex 2 review that you can be notified of calls and texts using unique vibration patterns and color-coded LED lights. Of course, you’ll need to read, respond or answer those notifications using your connected smartphone. Still, it’s a nifty feature to have when you need to have discreet text and call notifications.

Even at rest, the Fitbit Flex 2 continues to track your movement. It can track how long and how well you sleep. And you can set silent alarms that will wake you with small vibrations. This is a great feature for college students who share dorm rooms or apartments who don’t want to wake up their rooms with an early alarm.

We found in this Fitbit Flex 2 review that this tracker is perfect for those who have never owned a fitness tracker as well as for those looking for a track that provides some fashion options. The low price point makes the Flex 2 an affordable option for college students. Out of the box, the Fitbit Flex 2 comes with the charge, as well as large and small bands.

Pros

The lightweight, removable tracker can be placed in bands, bangles and pendants, depending on your activity or fashion needs.

The Flex 2 tracks steps, distance, active minutes and calories burned

The tracker syncs with the Fitbit App, an easy-to-use software that makes understanding your activity data a breeze

The Fitbit Flex 2 swimming feature is suitable for open water as well as your shower and bathtub

The tracker notifies you of calls and texts via its LED light display. You can set colors and vibration patterns to contacts, so you’ll know exactly who is contacting you.

The Flex 2 also tracks your sleep patterns and has a silent vibrating alarm to wake you

Cons

The press-on band may be initially difficult to close

The device does not come with a heart rate monitor

The tracker may accidentally slip out of the band if the fitting is too loose

One Giant Step for First-Time Tracker Users

The Fitbit Flex 2 is ideally suited for people who have never used a fitness tracker and want to understand what the craze is all about. The tracker’s ultra-slim design in colors of black, lavender or magenta means can pass it off as jewelry. Fitbit understands that some users may prefer to accessorize their Flex 2, which is why the company also offers tracker holders in bangles and pendants.

First-time users will discover that being able to track their daily steps can become an obsession. For example, if you decide you want to reach 10,000 steps each day, you may be checking your Fitbit Flex 2 often to gauge your general progress toward that goal. The LED display lights up to show you how much of your daily goal you’ve reached. You may find yourself taking longer walks or taking the stairs just to reach those goals.

The same thing can be applied for distances. If you find that your daily average distance is a mile, you may be encouraged to purposely seek longer walks just so your Flex 2 can record the additional distance. This type of positive feedback cycle is what Fitbit counts on to encourage its users to wear their trackers both day and night.

What’s more, Flex 2 users can create or join a group of others using Fitbit trackers. This will allow you to compete with friends, family, co-workers or even strangers to see who has completed the most steps in a day, week or month. As you can see, having a fitness tracker such as the Flex 2 can lead to some competitive fun while helping you be more active.

“I am obsessed with this FitBit!,” said one Amazon customer. “When you have friends added through the app, you can compete with them in daily and weekly challenges. … Another one of my favorite things is that it notifies you through a little vibration if you need to get moving. It’s a fun way to remind yourself to be more active and just live a healthy lifestyle.”

Statistics

Another key feature in this Fitbit Flex 2 review is the device’s connectivity to the Fitbit App. Clearly among the industry leaders, the Fitbit App takes all of the statistics collected by the Flex 2 and places them in easy-to-ready graphics and charts that help you make sense of your activities.

The app dashboard prominently displays your steps, miles logged, calories burned, floors walked and minutes of activities. You can view all of your recently exercises as well as review data about how well you slept. For those who favor a complete picture of their biometrics, the app also allows you to enter the number of glasses of water you drank, the types of food you ate during the day and many other fields.

Other great functions of the app include the Challenges section, which allows you to join in races and competitions with other Fitbit users around the world. You’ll earn buttons and flags whenever you accomplish a goal. There are also discounts on products as part of completing a challenge.

The Fitbit App also offers training videos for those who want to take their training to the next level. You can learn how to perform different types of exercises all from the app. This makes training much more personal and productive.

From a social perspective, the Fitbit App’s Community page allows you to view fitness-related news, invite friends to join your Fitbit circle and join various groups, based on the type of activity you’re interested in.

Top Features and Specs

Foundational features – The Fitbit Flex 2 provides you with all-day tracking activity, automatic sleep tracking, a LED display that shows your progress toward your goal and a long battery life of up to five days.

Additional features–The Flex 2 is swim-proof so that you can track your swimming. There are optional interchangeable accessories so that your tracker can match your mood and fashion. Fitbit’s SmartTrack feature automatically recognizes exercises and starts tracking them. If you’ve been inactive for a while, the Flex 2 will vibrate to get you to move.

Smartphone features – The Fitbit Flex 2 also allows you to receive text and call notifications using the color-coded LED lights and customized vibrations.

Ultra-slim and lightweight build–The dimensions of the Flex 2 are 10 x 0.4 x 0.4 inches. It weighs just six ounces.

Fitbit App – Enjoy advanced fitness tracking software that makes it simple to understand the activities tracked on the Fitbit App Dashboard. The app syncs wirelessly and automatically with more than 200 iPhone, Android and Windows devices.

What Customers are Saying

The Fitbit Flex 2 has a rating of 3.8 out of 5 stars, based on 2,854 customer reviews on Amazon.com. Many reviewers praised the Flex 2’s performance and its minimalist design, durable band, strong silent alarms and low price. Others praised the Flex 2’s ability to automatically sync with the Fitbit App and the ability to accessorize the tracker with another band, a pendant or a bangle.

“Overall, I would say this is an excellent product,” wrote one reviewer. “Since I have a watch and am not a hardcore workout person, I don’t need the extra bells and whistles of other Fitbit models. It does the job, and is holding up nicely.”

One person who wrote a negative customer review noted that his tracker fell out of the band and was lost. Another said his tracker could not charge after being plugged in for 10 hours. A third mentioned that the device broke only after three months.

Still, the overwhelming number of people praised the Fitbit Flex 2 for getting them started and helping them stay motivated toward their health and fitness goals. “I started using my Fitbit as soon as it arrived, and it has already encouraged me to go out of my way to get more fitness into my life,” said one Amazon customer. “I love the accountability provided by tracking progress with friends!”

The Verdict

The Fitbit Flex 2 may be near the front of the product line for the company, and for good reason. The device provides a favorable first impression and introduction into the world of fitness tracking. Newbies who have never worn a tracker will discover the ease in which their activities can be monitored, and this data can help them stay motivated toward their goals in the long run.

The Flex 2’s many features, for a low price point, make it an attractive consideration for college students, retirees and others who want to join the fitness tracker trend but don’t want to pay a lot of money for it. The Flex 2 provides enough bells and whistles to keep first-timers interested in their activity tracking. Long-time wearers will appreciate the options to accessorize their tracker and the ability to receive call and text notifications discreetly.

Wearers have praised the tracker’s silent, vibrating alarm for helping keep them on schedule, but in a non-intrusive and subtle way.

All users of the Fitbit Flex 2 will likely appreciate the software that backs up this device. The Fitbit App is known for its easy user interface, which takes the statistics gathered from your tracker and turns them into information you can use to improve your health and fitness. The App’s ability to allow friends and group members to monitor each other’s progress serves as a motivation, inspirational and competitive tool. Combined with other features, the Fitbit App is part of the reason Fitbit has a 20 percent market share in fitness trackers.

Overall, the Fitbit Flex 2 provides a great introduction to fitness tracking. It allows users to understand how their steps and other activities can be used as motivation to exercise more. The low price point allows you to experiment with this tracker and decide if its right for you, or if you need additional features such as a heart rate monitor and GPS tracking.

The goal of any fitness tracker is to get you to be more active, and the Fitbit Flex 2 can get you started.

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